The archiveDir provider is used to create an archive of a Web site or Web server. The archived data can then become the source of data that will be restored to a different Web site or Web server. You create an archive by using archiveDir with the -dest argument, and you restore a destination Web site or Web server by using archiveDir with the -source argument.

The archiveDir provider must specify an absolute path to a physical directory that holds or will hold the archive. If an absolute path is not specified, the operation will fail. If archiveDir is set as the destination, the destination directory will be created if it does not exist. If the destination directory already exists, the existing directory will be used, and existing files will be overwritten. In addition to the archived files, the archiveDir provider saves a file that is named Archive.xml file in the destination directory. The Archive.xml file lists, in XML format, all of the items that were included in the archive.

Warning

If you set archiveDir as the source, the source directory must exist, or the operation will fail.